Country Director at BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development organisation, and we believe in the power of media and communication for good. We work in over 20 countries around the world, supporting independent media essential to democracy and development. Each year our projects and programmes reach over 100 million people facing poverty, inequality and insecurity with information they can trust, helping to improve health, bridge divides, challenge prejudice, and save and change lives. We follow the editorial standards and values of the BBC, but we rely on funding from donors and partners to carry out our work.

Job purpose:

This exciting and influential role will be responsible for the overall running of BBC Media Action’s office in Tanzania. The Country Director will take overall responsibility for ensuring strong management and high-quality delivery of a range of development projects which use the power of media to tackle issues of governance, women and girls right, youth participation, media development, climate change, and nutrition. The post holder will ensure effective office management so that finance and administrative functions are carried out in line with donor rules, local regulatory requirements and BBC Media Action guidelines.

The Country Director will lead the expansion of our portfolio in Tanzania, including identifying future business development opportunities and overseeing the writing of new project proposals. The Country Director will represent BBC Media Action to the Tanzanian government, donors, media partners and other key stakeholders.

BBC Media Action works to ensure that everyone we work with remains safe during their time with us. The Country Director is responsible for ensuring that safeguarding is factored into project design and budgeting, staff and freelancers receive relevant safeguarding training, and relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any local partner organisations that may be working with vulnerable adults or children as part of our projects.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Provide dynamic, inspirational leadership and management, and lead senior management team to ensure BBC Media Action meets our commitments to funders, partners and audiences in Tanzania.
• Manage and develop a diverse and dynamic team, ensuring that staff are appropriately supported and managed, and that the team is maintaining high standards of performance and professional integrity.
• Through effective line-management of the Senior Project Manager and other team leads, take final responsibility for ensuring all activities are delivered within agreed standards, timescales and budgets, and all outputs adhere to BBC editorial standards.
• Ensure effective office management so that finance and administrative functions are carried out in line with donor rules, local regulatory requirements and BBC Media Action guidelines.
• Lead the expansion of our portfolio in Tanzania, including identifying future business development opportunities, establishing relevant relationships with donors and primes, and overseeing the writing of new project proposals.
• Update and implement the Country Strategy, ensuring our work in Tanzania is relevant and appropriate.
• Represent BBC Media Action to key stakeholders and ensure effective relationships and partnerships with a wide range of partners, including the Tanzanian government, international development agencies and other funding agencies, broadcasters, NGOs and others.
• Report regularly to BBC Media Action’s office in the UK on operational, legal, financial and editorial issues.
• Engage with the BBC Media Action board in Tanzania, ensuring effective oversight and communication.
• Ensure the BBC Media Action office in Tanzania complies with all local laws and regulations.
• Safeguarding responsibility for staff, volunteers, partners, and contributors. The role has responsibility for ensuring that all project activities comply with BBC Media Action and donor standards around safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. The role requires detailed knowledge and expertise of safeguarding policy and best practice.
• Ensure the delivery of relevant safeguarding training to all staff, freelancers and (sub)contractors contracted directly by the office.
• Ensure that relevant safeguarding due diligence is conducted with any local partner organisations that may be working with vulnerable adults or children as part of the projects. Where any risks are identified, ensure that projects are designed to mitigate these risks.
• Lead on security planning, working with senior management team, BBC Media Action security team, and local contacts to understand and minimize risks to staff, and ensure that staff are trained and briefed to manage risks.
• Identify training priorities linked to the needs of staff, including greater development of inhouse capacity, and to ensure that training meets BBC Media Action’s high standards.

Essential Skills and Experience

• A first (Bachelor) degree in a relevant field is essential, a Master’s degree desirable.
• Substantial experience in the transformative and inclusive management of diverse teams of creatives and professionals.
• Experience managing large-scale, donor-funded projects in a developing-country context, preferably in Tanzania. Proven ability to deliver complex projects to deadlines and within budget.
• Experience working in politically sensitive fields or contexts, and demonstrable ability to navigate complex environments. Experience developing and securing international development or media projects, including the ability to develop new project ideas and present these persuasively to potential partners and funders, and write successful proposals.
• Significant budget management experience, demonstrating effective use of resources and responsibility for large budgets.
• A record of forming effective relationships with a range of local and international partners, including at the highest levels of government and media, and managing effective teamwork between partners and stakeholders, including those with differing agendas.
• Considerable experience of working in the media or development sector (preferably both) and demonstrable knowledge of the development and/or media context in East Africa.
• Confident public speaker with experience of presentations to colleagues, donors and other stakeholders.
• Good judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to adapt, react and respond to crises, and to evaluate risk.
• Experience working on own initiative and organising time effectively within a range of often conflicting deadlines and demands.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience working in one or more of BBC Media Action’s key thematic areas in Tanzania: gender equality and women and girls rights; governance and accountability, particularly youth participation, nutrition and food security, climate change and biodiversity, and media ecosystem/ media development. .
• Demonstrable editorial judgement skills and understanding of BBC editorial values, or demonstrable potential to acquire strong editorial skills in order to help make sensitive editorial judgements at a senior level.

Location details

The role will be based in BBC Media Action office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Applications are welcome from anyone with the existing right to work in the country. BBC Media Action will not sponsor work visas for this engagement under any circumstances.

Safeguarding

This role will involve working with groups of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. For the successful candidate, mandatory training will be provided on BBC Media Action’s safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct. BBC Media Action operates a zero-tolerance policy concerning all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. A police background check may form part of the recruitment process.

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